France’s LFI party to protest Macron’s refusal to nominate its candidate as premier

By Nur Asena Erturk

ANKARA (AA) – France’s hard-left La France Insoumise (France Unbowed, or LFI) party will stage a demonstration next month to protest President Emmanuel Macron’s decision to postpone the formation of a new government, according to a statement.

“The president puts democracy in grave danger by refusing the ballot results,” the party said on X.

The LFI decided to unite with youth organizations “for a big demonstration on Sept. 7 against Macron’s power grab.”

The party is one of the components of the left-wing alliance the New Popular Front (NFP) which claimed victory in the second round of snap parliamentary elections on July 7.

The NFP’s candidate for prime minister, Lucie Castets, earlier told public broadcaster France Inter that people should “mobilize today” against what she described as “a denial of democracy.”

Macron began meeting with political parties last Friday to discuss the formation of a new government, more than six weeks after the second round of the elections.

After holding talks with political representatives on Monday, he announced that he would continue discussions instead of nominating a new prime minister, the French Presidency said in a statement.

“My responsibility is that the country is neither blocked nor weakened,” Macron said in the statement.

The president noted that the Socialist Party, the Greens and the Communists “have not yet offered paths to cooperate with other political forces.”

He also dismissed the possibility of forming an NFP government with Castets as prime minister, which drew ire from the left-wing politicians.

The NFP lashed out at Macron in a statement for stalling the process and called on him to nominate Castets as head of the new government.

“We would attend the next talks with the president only to work on the terms and conditions” of this solution, it said.

LFI founder Jean-Luc Melenchon said Monday on X that his party will submit a motion of impeachment against Macron. He also vowed to submit a censure vote against a possible right-wing government.

Olivier Faure, first secretary of the Socialist Party – another component of the NFP --- told broadcaster France 2 on Tuesday that he would not attend the second round of talks, refusing to take part in a “parody of democracy.”

On Monday, the far-right National Rally (Rassemblement National or RN) party said it would likely vote against a possible left-wing government.

Last Friday, Castets hailed Macron for a "rich discussion" about forming a new government.

She said the NFP, which won the elections, should form a government and seek coalitions with political partners in parliament, according to broadcaster BFMTV.

Faure told reporters that Macron “did not announce a precise date (for the nomination of a new prime minister) but said it would be quick.”

The country’s political process has stalled since the president postponed the nomination of a new prime minister and the formation of a new government due to the Paris Olympics, which ended in mid-August.

After weeks of struggle and even severe internal divisions, the victorious NFP proposed Castets as the next prime minister on July 23.

Macron, however, said he would not name a prime minister until the end of the Games.

He was also criticized for delaying the process and causing instability in the country by accepting outgoing Prime Minister Gabriel Attal’s resignation on July 16, after initially rejecting it on July 8, right after the second round of polls.

Macron dissolved parliament and announced early elections after the RN won more than 31% of the vote in European Parliament elections on June 9, defeating his centrist bloc.

The National Assembly has 577 seats, and none of the three primary alliances managed to secure an absolute majority of 289 legislators.

The NFP could win more than 180 seats in the National Assembly, according to results. The centrist alliance Together for the Republic, backed by Macron, finished second with more than 160 seats, while Jordan Bardella and Marine Le Pen's National Rally (RN) party got over 140 seats despite finishing first in the first round on June 30.

In the first round of the elections, the RN got 29.26% of the vote by itself (37 seats), a ratio that rose to over 33% when combined with allies.